Project Duration: June 2021-July 2022
Donor: International Centre Olof Palme / Western Balkans
Lead Partner: “Musine Kokalari” Institute, Prishtina
IFDT Research Team: Filip Balunović, Aleksandar Pavlović, Jelena Vasiljević, Edward
Đorđević, Aleksandra Bulatović
The relationship between Belgrade and Prishtina, or the lack thereof, remains one of the major obstacles to regional peace and cooperation. Current economic and political initiatives are all conducted under the umbrella of a neo-liberal political ideology that sees the region in terms of geo-strategy, as an important geo-strategic territory, a geo-economic transit route and a relatively important market, or means of access to important markets. Social issues and collective and individual freedoms, collective and individual wellbeing, the environment, economic potential, democracy, are some of the first victims of such a standpoint. As such the region is governed in a permanent mode of crisis and transition, with nationalist ‘father figure’ leaders, who represent themselves as guarantors of stability and capital, a guarantee which is sold with a very high price of corruption and authoritarianism.
Project Perpetual Peace and Social Justice in the Balkans is envisaged as the beginning of a longer initiative launched by the “Musine Kokalari” Institute from Prishtina and Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory – University of Belgrade. Its objective is to establish a well-informed progressive discourse on current and especially future relations that our respective political communities have and should have. This project aims to take an opposite viewpoint on the question: What kind of a region do we need?, and propose an alternative regional dynamics which will have the citizens of the countries in the region at the center. We foresee a potential expansion of the project to include the establishment of a regular communication and debate platform of progressive parties in the region which would extend the discussion on these topics and aim at producing a joint political statement on regional cooperation which would be a part of their political and electoral programs.
The project brings together intellectuals from different fields, such as law, political science, sociology, economy, etc, to discuss and propose a different, more progressive conception and conduction of the dialogue which will focus on not just normalizing the relations between Kosovo and Serbia but also reshape our societies, transform interethnic relations and establish a new dynamic on regional cooperation. Our project aims at discussing and proposing a different process which will seek to create e new social dynamics in Kosovo and Serbia and a new regional dynamics for peace and prosperity.